Inversus
by HollyThorn
Summary: What exactly would have changed if Dolohov had failed to curse Hermione in the Ministry of Magic? Well... it may just have involved a life debt, a little bit of time travel, and a hell of a lot of Patronuses.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I'm not quite exactly sure which entities have the rights to the Harry Potter Universe, but all I know is that it is certainly not me. I am merely playing with J.K. Rowling's work. Some of this chapter (and will be the only one to do so) is direct quotes from the book, therefore, I claim no ownership of anything that is seemingly so. Phrases come from the _Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix _book.

* * *

"_Silencio_!" cried Hermione, and the man's voice was extinguished. He continued to mouth through the hole in his mask, but no sound came out; he was thrust aside by his fellow.

"_Petrificus Totalus_!" shouted Harry, as the second Death Eater raised his wand. His arms and legs snapped together and he fell forward, facedown onto the rug at Harry's feet, stiff as a board and unable to move at all.

Before Hermione could congratulate Harry on his quick-thinking, the Death Eater she had silenced moments previously suddenly began to wave his wand – and with a skip of a heartbeat and a shriek of "_Stupefy_!" Hermione neatly dodged the beginnings of a purple glow at the end of the opposing wand. The tall Death Eater crashed to the floor with a dull thud.

Breathing heavily, Harry and Hermione slowly turned to look at each other. A slow grin began to grow on her face before she was distracted by the reappearance of Neville from behind the desk.

"Neville! Are you okay?" she asked, moving to help him up.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm okay… I'm–" but he was cut off by a crash in the doorway, and the arrival of the baby-headed Death Eater. "_Stupefy_," Neville suddenly yelled. Then the Death Eater with the too-young-face fell to the floor in exactly the same manner as his fellow comrades had moments before.

Hermione let out a deep breath. "I – I'll bind them," she stuttered, having failed to recover a steady heartbeat. The adrenaline was pumping hard in her veins. She waved her wand three times over each motionless Death Eater on the floor and ropes appeared, neatly binding them together.

"We good?" Harry said with his wand still aloft. Hermione picked up the Death Eaters' wands and stuffed them into her jean pocket and nodded once. "Let's go." He walked out the room, leaving Neville and Hermione to follow quickly behind.

The door swung shut behind them, and the walls began to turn again in the dark hall. "The crosses," Harry muttered, as the other two caught up. The scorch marks Hermione had left on all the doors they had entered had all disappeared – leaving them clueless again.

"My crosses are gone," Hermione whispered. "What-" she began to ask, but a door opened on their right swung open and three people fell out, effectively cutting her off. She saw Harry move towards them and made to grab to hold him back, but as he cried "Ron!" she realised who it was.

Staggering and clearly in pain, Ron, Ginny and Luna seemed to be holding each other up. Hermione couldn't tell which one of them was injured, until Ron fell onto Harry. He began to mumble incoherently into his friend's chest and Hermione looked up at Ginny in horror. "What happened to him?" she asked, wary to come any closer.

Ginny attempted to walk towards her, but grunted and half-collapsed to the floor, clutching at her ankle. Hermione immediately ran forward to help her, forgetting about her question.

"Broken, I think," Luna said, referring to Ginny's ankle. Hermione crouched down beside Ginny and gingerly prodded the offending swollen lump. Ginny whimpered. "I heard something crack," Luna continued. Hermione looked up at her. "Four of them chased us into a dark room full of planets, it was a very odd place, some of the time we were just floating in the dark-" Luna was interrupted by Ron.

"Harry, we saw Uranus up close!" he exclaimed, continuing to clutch onto Harry. He then started to mumble again. Hermione stared at him, biting her lip in worry.

"We have to him out of here. Ginny, I can tape up your ankle, but it needs proper attention. I can't believe… I was literally about to start reading up on healing spells this summer…" Hermione shook her head and waved her wand over Ginny's swollen and purple ankle. It was protruding out of her jeans, and as the spell was cast, Hermione saw a white bandage appear over the worst area.

Ginny hissed. "Thanks," she said. Luna leaned down to help pull her up. "We don't know what Ron was hit with," Ginny said, gesturing to her brother, who was giggling madly. The three girls stood up slowly together.

"That's okay," Hermione said unconfidently. "We just have to get out and take him back to Hogwarts. Madam Pomfrey will fix him." She chewed her lip. She had no idea what the spell could have been, and Death Eaters used plenty of modified spells, making it even more difficult to determine a cure. Hermione moved so that she was facing the other five teenagers. "Neville – you take Ron and Luna you help Ginny – if she needs it," she hastily amended as the redhead shot her a look. "Since the crosses are gone, we'll have to make do with trial and error again." She looked to Harry, who was beginning to sway on the spot. "Harry!" she said, and made to help him, but he waved her away.

"Was hit on the head," he said lightly. "We'll try this one first." He reached for the knob of the nearest door to him. Then, another door across the hall from them swung open to reveal Bellatrix Lestrange and several other Death Eaters.

"There they are!" she cried, and she shot a spell at the door Harry was at –causing it to light on fire. Immediately, spells then began to fly in both directions.

Harry jumped away from the door and dashed across the room towards a different one. "Come on!" he yelled, casting shield charms left, right and centre to protect his slower friends.

Ginny hobbled along with Luna at a surprisingly fast pace and Neville all but lifted Ron along behind them. Hermione raced after Harry, running at his heels. She ran into one of the rooms behind him, but the door swung shut behind her.

"No!" Hermione shouted, stopping to stare at the closed door. Harry turned at her exclamation and failed to notice the decline of the floor. He yelped and tripped, falling backwards down the stone steps, all the way to the bottom.

At the noise, Hermione turned in just enough time to see her best friend fall backwards. "Harry!" she screamed, and ran forward. She saw him hit the bottom of the pit with a thump, but nonetheless not hurt. She breathed a sigh of relief – but was suddenly grabbed from behind, and she screamed, struggling against them.

"Hermione!" Harry yelled as he stood up, wobbling a little.

Laughter came from all around them, echoing in the cavernous room. A breathy chuckle came from behind Hermione's ear, and she shivered in repulsion. She almost swore under her breath; she'd been captured by a Death Eater. She saw more of them surround Harry down below – _how were they going to get out of this?_

"Potter, your race is run," drawled Lucius Malfoy, pulling off his mask. "Now hand me the prophecy like a good boy..." He began to stalk towards Harry.

"Let her go," Harry said, looking up to meet Hermione's eyes.

A few of the Death Eaters laughed, but Lucius held up his hand. "No," he said, with a smirk growing on his face. "Let the girl join Mr Potter here. Maybe she can convince him to hand over the prophecy. Greyback." He waved his hand in her direction.

One hand let go of Hermione's arm, but the other began to unceremoniously drag her down the stone steps. This allowed her to get a glimpse of her captor. Glancing sideways, she immediately saw the dire condition of the clothes, the unclean essence of the man, and the bestial look about his face. _Fenrir Greyback_, she thought venomously. She also got a whiff of his person as she stumbled towards him on the last step. He smelled like dirt and blood and she immediately recoiled away from him.

"Hermione," Harry whispered as she walked to him.

"I'm okay," she said, giving him a small smile. He nodded and refocused his attention on Malfoy Sr.

"Now, Potter, you are in no position to be bargaining," the elder Malfoy began. "Just hand over that little thing in your hand there, and no one will get hurt."

"Like Hell!" Harry yelled. He held out his hand to drop the glass ball.

"No!" Bellatrix shrieked. "Crucio!" she screamed, and suddenly Hermione's world was filled with pain – burning, _excruciating_ pain. She wanted everything to end. She wanted _herself_ to end. Then, as suddenly as it had started, it stopped, leaving Hermione gasping on the floor, wondering how she'd gotten there and why her throat hurt so much.

"Fine!" Harry shouted. "You want it? Here." He thrust out his hand towards Lucius Malfoy.

Hermione shakily sat up, attempting to stop her foot from twitching. She raised her wand. There was no time to be vulnerable around Death Eaters. Standing up slowly, she was level with the dais behind her, barely aware of the presence of 'The Veil' Luna and Harry had claimed 'voices' had come from. _What nonsense_, she thought, glancing up at it.

Her attention was then suddenly captured by the sounds of doors slamming, and she looked up to see what it was; The Order had arrived. Sirius, Lupin, Moody, Tonks and Kingsley were standing above them.

Hermione almost sighed in relief, but was distracted by the sudden crossfire area she was in; the fight had begun. She felt a hand tug on hers and tried to pull away before she realised it was Harry. He started to climb onto the dais and pulled her up with him.

From their new vantage point they were able to see more, and in essence, aim better too. They immediately began casting spells at the Death Eaters that the Order members were duelling. But everything was moving too fast. Hermione took a chance look at her partner and noticed that one of his hands was empty.

"Harry!" she shouted, catching his attention. "Where's the prophecy?"

"Dropped it," he said simply, casting a spell behind her.

"But-" she started before she found herself barrelling towards the stone ground as someone much larger than her had crashed into her.

"Get down!" they shouted as she hit the ground with an _oomph_. A jet of green light went over their heads. Hermione stared at it in horror, and then up at her saviour.

That jaw line and shock of black hair was always immediately recognisable. She was chest to chest, lying on the ground with _Sirius Black_.The same Sirius Black who had just saved her life.

"Th – Thank you," she whispered, unable to look him in the eye.

He jumped up and held out his hand to help her up. "Don't mention it," he said with a grin.

Hermione got up and brushed her shirt down, careful to watch for anymore on-coming spells. Sirius made to run off again, but she grabbed him by the arm before he could leave. He turned back towards her with an eyebrow raised at her. Hermione immediately let go of his arm.

"I mean..." she said. "It means more than that. I now owe you a life-debt." She set her jaw and stared at him defiantly.

His eyes grazed over her with an intense scrutiny, causing Hermione's entire face to heat up. He then let out an abrupt laugh, which made her jump. Sirius began to speak, when he was interrupted by Harry's shout.

"Sirius!" Harry yelled, running towards them.

Hermione and Sirius immediately jumped into duelling stances in the direction Harry had indicated. Bellatrix was stalking towards them with a mad gleam in her eye. Hermione looked over her shoulder and saw Tonks lying in a heap at the bottom of the stone steps. She tried not to cringe.

"_Crucio!_" Bellatrix screamed.

"No!" Hermione shouted, and dived in front of Sirius – receiving the full force of Bellatrix Lestrange's Cruciatus Curse for the second time that night. She screamed and writhed with a force she didn't know she had, and somehow, this time round it was so much worse. So very much worse.

When she came to this time, Hermione felt like vomiting, but a voice murmured her name and her eyes began to refocus on the looming figure above her.

"Didn't expect you to live up to that life debt so quickly," Sirius said in a light tone.

Hermione began to sit up. Her limbs were weak and aching. She could also taste blood in her mouth. "That wouldn't have killed you," she said with a smirk. "The life debt is still intact." She watched his carefree expression fade into something she couldn't quite distinguish. It was almost somewhere between horror and amazement. Her gaze then slipped past him, to the view of Harry duelling Bellatrix.

Hermione gasped as her friend failed to notice the double attack Lestrange had sent at him. "_Protego_!" she yelled, startling Sirius.

Bellatrix screamed in frustration as Hermione's spell successfully shielded Harry from two particularly gruesome hexes, and turned on the duo sitting on the floor. "You!" she shrieked, and began to stalk towards them again. At that point, Hermione couldn't tell who the woman hated more; the bitch who had thwarted her several times or the blood traitor cousin.

Sharing a quick glance with Sirius, it was obvious that they were both going to fight her, and he quickly yanked her up to a standing duelling position.

Barely seconds passed before Bellatrix was firing spells at them in a quick succession. Hermione started to breathe heavily. The mad woman was relentless and rather erratic with her spell-casting, and it was wearing having to anticipate an attack from literally every direction. It made her so glad that she wasn't alone in this. But glancing to her right, she saw that Sirius was barely breaking a sweat. He actually seemed to be enjoying it, Hermione noticed.

"Can't even dare to fight me on your own, ickle cousin?" Bellatrix sneered, throwing a nasty looking purple hex at Sirius.

He dodged it with ease and grinned maliciously at her. "Oh, I definitely would, but I believe Hermione here has beef to settle with you herself, and you know me – would never get in the way of a cat fight." He laughed and threw another jinx at her.

Bellatrix hissed and Hermione felt her face heat up at Sirius' words. It was strange for her to have someone speak on her behalf like that, but she did feel like she was intruding on something of a personal vendetta between the two Blacks. She shot another disarming spell their opponent. _The life debt comes first_, she thought fiercely, _and I will stay to protect Sirius_. Old magic such as life debts were always a big deal in the magical community, much like oaths, and despite being Muggle-Born, Hermione immediately understood the significance of her words after Sirius had saved her. As long as she lived, she would need to attempt to keep him save until the debt was repaid. _In times like these_, she thought with a wry smile, _it shouldn't take long_.

A shout briefly disturbed their duel. "Dumbledore!" she heard someone yell on the other side of the room, and she looked up. Right they were, there stood Albus Dumbledore at the entrance to the large room. She suddenly felt elated and hope rise in her chest; _they were going to win_.

Most people had finished their duels, she noticed as she took a look around the room. Except Sirius and Bellatrix she saw as she turned around again. They were snarling at each other and now throwing as many insults as spells at each other.

"Come on, you can do better than that!" he yelled, laughing at her as he dodged another hex. Hermione automatically took a step closer to him, but she failed to notice the second jet of light that flew out of Bellatrix's wand and so apparently did he, as it shot Sirius directly in the chest.

"No!" Hermione screamed and she dived forward for his hand as she saw him begin to fall backwards.

She barely heard Bellatrix's triumphant scream and Harry's yell of "_Sirius_!" as she threw herself at the falling man heading for the ancient archway in the middle of the dais.

Hermione brushed his fingertips as they both began to fall through the archway. "Sirius," she whispered, as she lost sight of him.

But instead of floating through as Sirius had done right in front of her, Hermione felt her body crash against something that felt suspiciously like a wall, and crumpled backwards, out of the archway and onto the stone floor.

"No!" she shouted, scrambling to get back up. "No," she repeated in a much quieter tone as she stood and stared at the empty archway. It was empty. She had failed, and she didn't know what happened to witches and wizards who failed to fulfil a life debt, and she really didn't want to know.

Hermione began to tremble and cry. She hadn't thought she would come to care as much for the reckless Black that had literally crashed into their lives, but she did. Her reaction was telling her that she cared a lot more than she thought she would.

If it weren't for her emotional reaction to her best friend's godfather's disappearance, Hermione would have noticed that she was now entirely alone in the cavernous room a lot sooner...

...

Forcing herself not to panic, Hermione took several deep breaths and began to figure out what had happened.

_They left._

_Probably thinking that I was... gone... like Sirius. _

_That's all it is. _

_I wonder who was victorious. _

_Of course it must have been us – Dumbledore turned up!_

_I can't have been in there long – but certainly long enough not to fall straight back out and for the others to think that I wasn't coming back at all. _

_I'll send a message to one of The Order members to get me, yes that should work. _

Hermione shook herself and took one last deep breath in order to calm herself. She had only recently learned how to send a message by Patronus and had yet to teach Harry and Ron how to do so. 'Recently' meaning two nights previously.

_I can do this_, she thought.

Summoning the happiest thoughts and memories she had, Hermione twirled her wand in a circular motion three times in the air in front of her. "Expecto Patronum," she said with conviction. She was delighted to see her familiar otter appear in front of her, but now came the tricky part.

"I need you to send a message to Remus Lupin," Hermione said kindly – attempting to concentrate hard and get the bright silver animal to understand and listen to her. In theory, getting one's Patronus to send a message for them shouldn't be difficult, as they are the person's familiar, so therefore should have a deep enough connection to them in the first place. It was the concentration that was the most difficult part. It was the attempt to cross a dimension barrier which was a difficult feat for most witches and wizards.

The otter twitched its nose and perked up a little at her voice. Hermione smiled in relief; _it was listening_. "Tell him this word for word," she said, taking care to pronounce her words properly. "I am at the Ministry. I do not know what happened since Sirius fell through The Veil, but I need your help in getting back to Hogwarts. I will wait by the fountain in the auditorium." She flicked her wand again and the otter soared through the room and out of one of the closed doors.

Hermione stood up straight and took a look down at herself. Grimacing, she saw that her lilac woollen jumper and blue jeans were covered in dirt and had gashes all over. She dreaded to think what her hair and face look like. Quickly casting cleaning and repairing spells, Hermione felt a little more confident in walking through the Ministry _not_ looking like something the Aurors had dragged in during the night. Surely workers would be beginning their day by now?

She began walking as she felt her hair lift and flatten with the cleaning charm she'd used on it and made her way out of the room she was beginning to hate so much.

Fortunately, as she entered the circular black hall, the walls had spun and stopped with an open door in front of her, leading to the main building of the Ministry. She was fascinated by its ease of exit when it had been so difficult in the opposite direction. _A defence mechanism_, she thought suddenly. _But what for?_

She found herself standing in front of the golden grilled lift within moments, and when inside pressed the button saying: _Auditorium_. She barely jumped when it began to move.

...

Finally reaching the main entrance area of the Ministry of Magic, Hermione discovered that people had indeed started their working day. She found herself feeling almost aghast at the thought of all of these people being ignorant to what had happened a mere few floors beneath them.

Hermione made her way over to the cheerfully gurgling fountain and perched on the edge. It indeed was a peaceful place, but she couldn't help but feel a little out of place. A niggling feeling began to creep up her neck. _What is it?_ she thought, staring out at the crowds. _What am I missing?_

The Ministry workers looked perfectly average to her. Witches and wizards dressed in robes bustling around trying to start their day. Scanning the room, she tried to see past that to what was making her feel... _wrong_.

On her third sweep, she saw the man with the cart selling the day's _Daily Prophet_, which was a further example of the day's average nature, but she knew that it was that which had captured her attention. Knowing Remus would be a while yet, she stood up and made her way through the throngs of workers to the newspaper cart.

Luckily, she had brought her moneybag with her and handed the man a few sickles for a copy of the day's paper. Smiling in farewell, Hermione made her way back to the fountain and opened out the paper.

The headlines weren't anything surprising; more attacks and gruesome deaths of innocents. She shook her head mildly at the injustice of it all. But then, something in the byline caught her attention. Hermione blinked several times and even attempted holding the newspaper further away from her, and closer again in an attempt to correct what she was seeing.

But she simply couldn't be reading it right.

It was impossible.

The date was wrong.

There was no fathomable or simply _possible_ way for today to have been 17th August _1976_.

Hermione's heart started to race and she began to breathe erratically. _Not possible, not possible, not possible, not possible_, she thought repeatedly.

"Uh... Hello?"

Hermione's head shot up and she gasped. She stood up, still clutching the newspaper between her hands.

"Are... are you the one who sent the otter?" the voice continued, clearly confused.

Hermione was speechless. There, in front of her was indeed Remus Lupin, but a _teenage_ version. With the same kind face, and patched too-large clothing, he was immediately recognisable. But he was a little shorter, a lot thinner and a lot less scarred. It was the hair and the eyes that unnerved Hermione. There were no grey streaks in the messy dark blonde mop and his eyes... his eyes no longer held that haunted look she had grown to know.

"Ye... Yes... That was me," she found herself saying before she felt her extremities go numb, her mind black out, and she fell to the floor, unconscious.

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**A/N:** Well, it's hello to another story! I know I shouldn't start one while I'm still at the beginning of another - but I just couldn't get this plot out of my head! Yes, yes, yes, _another_ time-travel fic - HOWEVER I think that this is a little bit of a different take on the concept. Well, at least I hope so. Hope you enjoy it!

_**Holly - xo**_


	2. Chapter 2

_August 17__th__ 1976, 09:04_

Remus Lupin was a morning person. He liked seeing the day begin with a cup of warm tea and experiencing the hope that came with every morning sunrise. It somehow enticed a person into thinking '_something special will happen today_'. Despite being mainly pessimistic, he was forever hopeful that one day it would actually happen.

He was sitting alone at the breakfast table in his kitchen gently sipping the regular morning brew when it came. 'It' referring to a sudden burst of silvery, wispy light. It startled him so greatly that he spluttered and dropped the rest of the liquid in the mug down his pyjama shirt. Luckily, it wasn't so hot. It was several moments before he realised that it was a Patronus, and that it was for him.

The Patronus materialised into an adorable otter and stilled, staring right at him. The light reflected on the tiled floor and caught on the glass of several objects in the room, such as the window above the sink and the display cabinet next to the door. His taken aback expression aside, Remus was enthralled by this creature and its ethereal presence; he found it rather beautiful. Having only finished his fifth year and never encountered a Dementor in his life, Remus couldn't say he had much experience with Patronuses, but he could say it was beginning to become a priority to learn how to perform the charm the more he stared at the creature.

But then, it started to talk and he jumped again: _can they even do that?_ he thought. He blinked several times and tried to focus on its voice. Its... _girly_ voice? No he wasn't mistaken – it was a young woman speaking. His face reddened. What would a young woman want to send him a message like this for?

"I need you to send a message to Remus Lupin," it said in its strange echo. Remus was dumbfounded, but enchanted. "Tell him this word for word," it continued, and then the voice changed and became clearer. "I am at the Ministry. I do not know what happened since Sirius fell through The Veil, but I need your help in getting back to Hogwarts. I will wait by the fountain in the auditorium." Then it was quiet and within seconds the friendly silver otter faded away.

Remus stood up abruptly and almost called for it to come back, but his shock overrode his need to see it again. _Sirius?_ he thought worriedly. _What had happened to him? What is 'The Veil'? Why does she need to get to Hogwarts? It's the summer holidays. Maybe she needs Dumbledore's help to help Sirius. But then why would she need _me_ to get into the castle? What help could I possibly be_?

He began to pace the kitchen, up and down attempting to formulate a plan – ignoring what had just happened. That would need to be figured out later. There was no time. Firstly, he would need to actually get dressed. Then find a way to the Ministry. If one of his friends was in trouble, then he was going in immediately. It didn't even occur to him that it might be a hoax; the Marauders didn't joke about things like that.

...

Two minutes and forty five seconds later, Remus was standing by the fireplace in his living room, Floo powder in hand. The Lupins hadn't been connected to the Floo network before that summer and Remus had begged his father to do so, since it was at least two buses, a train and another bus to even be within walking distance from James' house. It was simply too difficult to visit his friends during the holidays otherwise. He was now especially glad as there was someone in need of his help and he would have been at least two hours in getting to the Ministry if he hadn't been able to Floo.

Remus stepped into the fireplace and called out: "The Ministry of Magic!" He was then engulfed by a mass of green flames and disappeared.

...

_Half an hour later..._

"Moony, what the hell kind of time do you call this? I thought we had an agreement!" cried James as he threw open his drawing room door, walking into the room purposefully. He came to a halt when he saw his friend. "Ah, I see the emergency," he said dryly.

Remus was standing in front of the Potter's fireplace, covered in soot, with an unconscious girl in his arms. James had set his friend's up with a direct Floo link to his house without any need to call ahead first, however he had also set up an alarm to let him know exactly when they turned up.

"I don't... who... what's wrong... Ministry... otter... _Sirius_," Remus stuttered.

"Someone called?" Sirius said, as he strode into the room. He came to a sudden halt the same as James had done. "Look Moony, you did know we were kidding when we said you couldn't get a girl unless she was unconscious, right?"

"You're okay!" Remus said, visibly sighing with relief.

"Uh... yeah?" Sirius looked between Remus and James. "What the hell is this?"

"I was just about to ask that," James said. He gave Remus and the girl in his arms a pointed look.

"I'll explain but can I put her down first?" Remus said breathlessly.

"Pip!" James called, and a small house elf appeared with a _crack!_. "Take us all to the blue room."

"Yes, of course, Master James," Pip said.

James and Sirius walked over to Remus and grabbed a shoulder each. Pip reached up to hold James' hand and the strange group disappeared with a sharp _crack!_.

...

"Okay... so let me get this straight... this girl sent you a message by her _Patronus_ because she needed your help to get to _Hogwarts_ because _I_ was in trouble? And you went straight to the _Ministry of Magic_ to get her?" Sirius said incredulously.

"That about sums it up," Remus muttered.

The three boys were sitting in armchairs surrounding a roaring fire in a bedroom in Potter Manor. The fireplace in the blue room, to be exact. Remus had laid the unconscious girl down on the bed and proceeded to tell his two best friends about his very strange morning. They had only so far concluded that they were just as confused about the situation as Remus was.

"I just don't get how she knows us though." James ran his hand through his hair. It was a nervous habit he didn't think he'd ever grow out of. "She's not at Hogwarts, right? But she's clearly a witch. And from Britain. Homeschooled?"

"I have some theories," Remus muttered as he stared across at the seemingly sleeping body on the bed.

"Well, could you please enlighten us because this is all too fucking weird for a Sunday morning," Sirius said, who, like James, was still in his pyjamas.

"I'll _enervate_ her. You got her wand, right?" James said, nodding at Remus.

"Yeah," Remus replied, holding up the vine wood wand as if to confirm it further. He was quiet; he was nervous. What would she have to say? How indeed does she know them? Remus certainly had a few theories, but one more incredulous and ridiculous as the other and he was wary to see what this young girl said. He had a feeling that her presence would make a huge impact on the Marauders.

"Let's get on with it then. I have shit to ask," Sirius said. He stood up and walked over to the queen-sized four-poster bed. He stared down at her. "I think she's our age," he murmured, leaning close. "Kinda pretty."

James rolled his eyes and joined Sirius at the bedside. "Paws off," he said, smirking at the pun.

"Oh haha, like I haven't heard tha –" Sirius suddenly stopped. "Did you hear that?" he said, staring at the other two.

"What? All I heard was you prattling on about nothing," Remus said, joining the other two in staring down at the fourth party in the room. _She certainly is interesting-looking_, he thought. He perched on the edge of the bed, directly across from James and Sirius. But then he did hear it. The girl was murmuring something.

"It's... what is that?" Sirius said. He leaned right down into her face. The room was quiet for a moment before he burst out with: "'_Snuffles_'? What the fuck is _Snuffles_?"

"Oh, I'm sick of this! _Enervate!_" James cried, pointing his wand at the girl.

She immediately woke, springing her eyes open. She gasped and shot into a sitting position, smacking heads with Sirius as she did so. Simultaneous shouts of, "_Holy fuck_!" and "_Oh my god_!" followed.

...

Suddenly, Hermione was awake. It was a dream. It was all a dream. She hadn't at all seen Sirius Black die, nor had she been held under the Cruciatus Curse by Bellatrix Lestrange and nor had she spoken with a teenage Remus Lupin in the Ministry of Magic. Nope. It had all been a surreal dream and she would open her eyes to find herself looking at the red drapes of her four-poster bed in her Gryffindor dormitory. Her bed was comfy – very comfortable in fact, she quickly realised. Almost too comfortable...

It suddenly all came crashing down around her. Nothing had been a dream. It had indeed all happened. Hermione began to panic and she opened her eyes and shot up into a sitting position, as if she was waking up from a terrible nightmare. But she collided with something hard. Very hard. The collision caused a numb sort of pain that made her cry out. Her exclamation of pain was, however, echoed.

Hermione then took a first look at her surroundings. She was in a very large bed. In a very blue room, she further noticed. But the grandiose room was not which captured her attention, no, it was the two boys staring at her in mixed expressions of shock and apprehension and the third boy crouched over, with his hands pressed against his forehead in pain.

"I'd like to say that's the first time I've ever been head-butted by a girl, but unfortunately it's not," said the crouched over boy. He straightened up with a grimace, gently touching his brow-line. "Yep, that's gonna bruise. Thanks a lot," he muttered.

Hermione simply stared at him, mouth agape. It wasn't. It _couldn't_ be. She really should have expected it after she saw Remus, but she still hadn't expected it at all. The teenage Sirius Black was everything he had been described as being. Hermione could easily see where he resembled the elder Sirius she knew, but this one was entirely different. There was a... _life-ness_ about him that the older Sirius didn't seem to have. And his hair was shorter.

"Sirius Black," he said with a grin. He held his hand out for her to shake, but Hermione just stared at it.

"I know," she said, still staring at the hand as if it had done something to offend her. Suddenly she snapped out of it, and slapped her hands across her mouth. She couldn't let them know she was a time traveller. She couldn't let them know anything _at all_.

_I can't be here_, she thought. _I really can't be here, especially here_. _I at least have to figure out what happened before I can do anything! _

"We know you know," a new voice said.

Hermione's eyes travelled past the now amused-looking Sirius to a tall, thin, dark-haired boy beside him. She gasped again. James Potter was again exactly as everyone had described him as being. It was more than a little overwhelming. It was almost like she was meeting characters from a story; but to her, that's exactly what James Potter was. He was simply someone from a story. But there he was. All legs and life-like, staring at her as if she was some kind of alien.

"So, who the hell are you?" James said, crossing his arms.

Hermione shook her head. "No. No, I can't... I... I need... I need to speak to... Remus!" she said, turning to the boy perched on the edge of the bed next to her. She needed to talk to someone. Anyone. Remus was perfect, if she thought about it. He would be very useful in helping her find out what happened and understanding in what she could and could not do. _Yes_, she thought, _Remus I can trust_. He was the only person who was almost the same as a teenager as he was as the adult Hermione knew.

She saw Remus visible recoil. "M... Me?" he said, pointing at himself.

Hermione nodded at him. She didn't think she could ever get over the shock at seeing him so young. "Please," she said, turning to James. "Give me ten minutes alone with Remus then I will explain everything."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Sirius said. He shook his head and waved his hands. "We don't know you. Hell, Remus doesn't know you. How can we trust you to leave you alone with him? You literally fall into our lives knowing who we are. You could be anybody, so I don't think so, mate." Sirius crossed his arms, mirroring James.

Hermione sighed. This was all a mess. She now couldn't get out of _not_ explaining where she came from. She couldn't see any other way. But she simply had to talk to Remus first. She needed to get her head straight. She was stuck.

"She's unarmed. I'll be fine," Remus suddenly interjected. Hermione, James and Sirius all whipped their heads round to stare at him. He ducked his head, with his face reddening. Hermione almost smiled. It was both surreal and adorable seeing her old Professor like this. While it should feel wrong, she didn't actually feel anything like that at all.

Hermione looked away from Remus to find James staring at her with narrowed eyes. "Fine," he said. "But we're literally going to be just outside that door." He pointed between the two of them. "And no hanky-panky." James then grabbed Sirius by the back of his shirt and dragged him out.

Hermione's face heated up. What a ludicrous comment. She mentally scoffed. Her and Remus. Her and _Professor Lupin_. How entirely absurd. But as she caught the teenage boy's eye and saw his equally as embarrassed face, her face suddenly became intensely warmer and the idea less absurd.

When the door slammed, their situation suddenly became a little to intimate for Hermione's liking. They were alone and she had no idea what to say. How do you begin to tell someone that you are a time traveller and know them in the future?

"Here," Remus broke the silence. He reached into his pocket and pulled out Hermione's wand. "I think this is yours." He smiled shyly.

"They won't like it," she replied quietly, taking the wand from his outstretched hand. "But thank you, anyway. You don't think I'll curse you now that I'm armed?" she asked teasingly. What was she doing? Was this _flirting_?

"Will you?" Remus replied steadily.

"No."

"Thought so. Now, who exactly are you?"

Hermione blinked. She forgot for a moment that he didn't even know her name. "Oh," she said, glancing towards the door. "Do you mind?" Hermione gestured her wand towards the door directly in front of her. Remus shrugged in reply, so she quickly sent charms which locked the door and cast a silencing spell on the room. "It's not that I don't trust them," she said meekly. "I just have to... tell them differently."

Remus just nodded.

There was a murmured cry of: "They didn't!" outside the door, which made the two teenagers giggle.

"No, they definitely won't like it," Hermione said with a grin. She crossed her legs under her.

Remus shrugged again. "They'll find a way. It is James' house after all."

Hermione almost gasped again. She was in the Potters' house? "We're in Godric's Hollow?" she said, trying to hide her shock from him.

Remus frowned and gave her a strange look. "No, why would you think so?"

Hermione gaped for a moment. She had never heard of the Potters having another house, but then again, why would she? Thinking about it, Hermione didn't know much about James Potter at all. "I..." she stuttered. "I'm Hermione Granger," she finally said, holding out her hand.

"Remus Lupin," he said, shaking her hand. "But then again, you already knew that."

"Yes... well... I... um... My, this truly is difficult to explain." Hermione began to finger the ends of her hair. _Best to say it bluntly, I suppose_, she thought. "Yes, I do know you – I know all of you Marauders actually. I'm from... the future, you see." She paused, allowing him time for a reaction.

Remus frowned slightly. "I do see."

"Do you believe me?" Hermione asked warily. "Do you want me to prove it?"

"Not really," Remus said with a grimace.

Hermione ignored him and rushed everything out in a single breath. "You are Remus John Lupin, or sometimes also known as Moony, one quarter of the Marauders, which consists of James Charlus Potter, Sirius Orion Black and Peter Martin Pettigrew, also known by the names of Prongs, Padfoot and Wormtail, whom are all Animagi, illegal of course, but only due to the fact that you are a werewolf, turned at the age of three, I think. You are all Gryffindors, despite the fact that Sirius comes from a family of entire Slytherins and was blasted off the family tree for having 'traitorous' blood ideals and running away to live with James, which I now suppose why he is here so early? I suppose that's happened already? God help me if it hasn't, I really cannot afford letting anything out."

Remus gaped at her. "You..." he stuttered. "You... know?" he said quietly, not meeting her eyes.

"Oh," Hermione said. She hadn't realised that it was such a big deal for her to know, but back then... _now_... only his family, Dumbledore and the rest of the Marauders knew about his condition. But she almost breathed a sigh of relief; she hadn't given anything new away if that was all he was concerned about. "Well, yes," she continued. "You once turned in front of me."

He snapped his head up. "Was... anyone... hurt?" he asked fearfully.

"No!" Hermione exclaimed. "It was unexpected, yes, but I had guessed what you were before that anyway. And believe me, none of us mind you and your furry little problem." She smiled at him.

He gave her a small smile in return. "So you really do know us. Rather well, by the looks of it. Can I ask... how?"

Hermione frowned, attempting to think of a way around telling him the absolute truth, but something also entirely honest.

"Okay, fine," Remus said. "Can I ask _when_?"

"Yes! I can answer that. I came from the year 1996."

Remus visibly looked startled. "Twenty years?" he said, aghast. Hermione nodded and Remus was silent for a moment. "You're not... _my child_... are you?" he said in almost a whisper.

Hermione giggled. "Oh god no!"

"Are you James' child then? Peter? Sirius? "

"No, no, no, nothing like that. But I am friends with one of their children." Hermione said with a wry smile.

"Do not tell me that Sirius had a child, because I don't think I could handle that at any age," Remus said with a laugh.

Hermione giggled again, but sighed. "You know I can't really tell you anything in detail."

"I understand. But what I don't understand is what you are doing here... and how you got here for that matter. What exactly happened to your Sirius?"

"I don't really understand any of it, myself," Hermione said. She frowned down at the plush navy and white bedspread and began to pick at a loose thread. "I think it had something to do with my owing Sirius a life-debt."

Hermione heard Remus' sharp intake of breath and looked up to face him. "A _life-debt_? What the hell were you involved in?"

"I really cannot tell you that," Hermione said with a sad smile. "But somehow Sirius Black ended up saving my life, henceforth creating the life-debt. But then he... disappeared... and when I tried to follow, I was thrown back in time. Then I tried to contact you to get back to Hogwarts, it's May when I come from, you see, so we were still at school, and the rest is history, I suppose."

"_The Veil_, you said. Is that where your Sirius 'disappeared' to? And where you tried to go to follow?"

"I forget I told you that," Hermione said with a frown. "I don't quite know what it is... but I _think_ it is a link to the Otherworld."

"So... your Sirius is... _dead_?" Remus said with a gulp.

Hermione blinked several times and tried to swallow the lump in her throat, but her voice still came out thick. "Yes, I think so. Which is why I was sent back in time. I failed to save him and the debt became tenfold and now I have to save his entire life." She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. "I haven't had time to truly figure out what happened and why I'm here, but that is all I have come up with since talking to you." She smiled sadly at him.

Remus' expression became thoughtful. They were both silent for several moments. "So... our relationship in the future," he said carefully, breaking the silence. "I'm sort of like... an uncle to you?"

"Sort of," Hermione replied. It was safe for him to think that of them. She supposed it was almost true. "But you're young, so it's more like a... friendship," she continued.

"Right," Remus said, clearly deep in thought.

"I know this is all surreal and strange and you don't know me and don't trust me but I'd rather like you to," Hermione said almost pleadingly. If she was permanently stuck in 1976, she needed at least one ally.

"You were in trouble," Remus replied slowly, "and the first person you thought to contact was _me_. You clearly trust me a lot in the future, so I am going to trust you now."

A huge grin shot across Hermione's face. "Oh, thank you!" she cried, before throwing her arms around him. She felt his arms warily lightly touch her back.

The sound of a door slamming pulled them apart.

"There!" Sirius exclaimed, brandishing a knife in the air. "Got it!"

Hermione smiled at the sight of it. It was the knife that her Sirius had recently (well, twenty years in the future) given to Harry for Christmas; the one that unlocked any door.

He folded it down and shoved it back into his pocket. "Had to go all the way back to my room to get this, so you'll have to elaborate more on the me being dead part."

Both Hermione's and Remus' mouths dropped open at the same time. "Do any kind of wards keep you boys out?" she said exasperatingly.

"Nope," James said with a crooked grin. "Now that you've had your ten minutes with Moony over here, we have a few questions ourselves." His grin developed into something rather evil.

Hermione almost gulped. _But at least_, she thought to herself as she mentally prepared to be interrogated by three quarters of the infamous Marauders, _I won't need to tell my story again_.

* * *

**A/N:** Hermione really has been thrown right into the middle of it all, hasn't she?! I hope this began to explain my plan for the time theory I'm going to develop. Hope you liked it!

_**Holly - xo**_


	3. Chapter 3

As it turned out, James' questions weren't anything like Hermione had dreaded them to be. After his extremely uncomfortable implication to interrogate her, James had simply dropped his entire body onto the bed in a non-chalant manner, leaned his head on his hand and smiled up at her.

"So... the future, eh?" he said casually.

Hermione blinked at the anticlimactic statement, but it took her a moment to realise what game the Potter was playing. She fought the urge to roll her eyes at him but she did sigh. "No, I cannot tell you anything and no, you will not be able to torture it out of me," she replied in an equally casual manner.

James shrugged before replying. "Eh, fine." He feigned looking at his fingernails.

Hermione narrowed her eyes at him. "Is this really your technique?" she asked sceptically. "Because reverse psychology won't work on me."

While she had explained that she was from the future, she felt strongly uncomfortable answering questions about it, and for damn good reasons too. She was planning to evade any attempt from the boys to tell them anything she knew. It was enough of a risk to say that she was a time-traveller anyway, but should basic plan she had in her head work, it should be worth it.

"Is it really that secretive?" Remus asked gently.

Hermione smiled in appreciation of him getting straight to the point. "Yes," she said simply.

The boys were silent for a moment.

"Well, I guess that's it, then. I'm dead, one of us has a kid and we all live to at least thirty. Don't think we'll get any more out of her. Onto the cover story I think?" Sirius said. He clapped his hands and rubbed them together, looking around at everyone.

James nodded at him. "I think I have an idea for one," he replied.

Hermione gaped. "Is... is that it?" She stared incredulously at each boy's blank expression. "I'm a stranger who knows you and all of your secrets; I say I'm from the future, you believe me and you want to... _keep me_?"

"Well… do you have anywhere else to go?" James asked.

"I... uhm... well… no." Hermione said, deflating. This was something that the stories had failed to mention; how _kind_ these boys were. She suddenly felt very emotional and her eyes started to well up. She _didn't_ have anywhere to go – she was entirely alone. It hadn't hit her until now, but these boys were of such likeness to the boys she had left behind that Hermione couldn't help but be reminded of the fact that home was so far away. "I... I... I..." she started to hyperventilate as she began to steadily cry.

...

"Oh god..." Sirius muttered. This was not what he had signed up for. Well, not that he had signed up for anything, but it was definitely not what he had expected when he had been abruptly woken up by James yelling that Remus had arrived.

Hermione began to sob. "I... have no way... to get... home, do... I?" she said between sobs. "I'm stuck!" she suddenly wailed.

James, Remus and Sirius shared a worried glance; how were any of them to know how to help a crying girl?

"Should..." James said, with a side-glance at the sobbing Hermione. "Should I get my mum?" he whispered.

"She doesn't know about her, yet. You'll have to explain the situation first. We'll look after Hermione in the mean time," Remus whispered back.

"_Excuse me_?" Sirius said, not bothering with the hushed tones. James and Remus glared at him for a moment and he relented. "What the hell are we supposed to do?" he hissed in a much quieter tone.

"Pat her on the head or something," James replied. "I don't know!"

Remus rolled his eyes. "Go," he said to James. "We'll think of something."

James nodded and with a quick, scared glance at Hermione, he fled the room, leaving Remus and Sirius to share one last worried look at one another. Remus sighed and moved closer to the sobbing girl in the middle of the bed.

"Hermione... hey, Hermione?" he said cautiously, reaching a hand out to her slowly.

"My parents!" she suddenly exclaimed, and the two boys jumped back. "Harry... Ron! All my things! I have nothing here... absolutely no one!" She continued to sob.

Remus jerked his head at Hermione, indicating clearly to Sirius that he should have a go. Sirius vehemently shook his head for several moments before Remus shot a mild stinging hex at his thigh. He yelped and quickly sat on the bed on Hermione's other side.

"Oi, Hermione," he said, poking her in the arm. "What's Snuffles?"

Hermione suddenly stopped hyperventilating and sat upright. "What?" she said quietly. She blinked at him.

"Snuffles," Sirius repeated. "You were muttering it when Remus brought you in."

To both boys surprise, Hermione giggled. "Was I really?" she said and giggled again.

"Yes... yes you were," Sirius said, straightening up. He shot Remus a smug look that said: _ha, my methods worked and yours didn't_. "What is it?" he asked.

"It's more of a 'who'," Hermione said with a sniff. Her eyes were bloodshot and her nose was red, but Sirius couldn't help but notice she was still pretty when she smiled through it.

_But who is she_? She'd literally been here minutes and got himself, James and Remus in the palm of her hand. Sirius strangely felt as though he could trust her; that all of them could. He trusted his instinct and had a feeling that she wasn't there to cause them any harm. He especially thought so because Remus obviously trusted her, and Remus never took to people as quickly as he had Hermione. Sirius got the impression that there was a romantic relationship in there somewhere, but the years that he had heard Hermione describe through the door was wrong; the ages wouldn't add up.

Sirius put it to the back of his mind to keep an eye on her. It was weird enough that she already knew them so well, but the fact that she had accidentally let out that he was dead just took the biscuit. He almost didn't want to find out more. It made him nervous just talking to her – what if she let out anything else? Sirius just couldn't handle having any kind of forewarning to bad news. He'd spend all his time worrying about it. But he still found himself enthralled by her.

"Fine," he said. "_Who_ is Snuffles?"

Hermione simply giggled again, much to his annoyance. "You," she said with a smirk.

"Excuse me?" Sirius gaped. "You're kidding, right? I would never allow anyone to call me such a thing!" He fought the urge to pout indignantly. It wasn't fair. Why couldn't she tell embarrassing spoilers about Remus instead? Why did he have to have the stupid nickname?

"I don't think she is," Remus said, with a similar smirk on his face.

"Oh shut up," Sirius growled, and shoved him off the bed. Remus hit the floor with a thud, and Hermione burst into loud laughter, causing Sirius to grin at the sight.

He would never admit it, but Sirius was feeling delectably smug about the fact that he had managed to cheer Hermione up where Remus had failed. This would typically (not that they encounter crying girls often) be Remus' area of expertise, so this further showed him that Hermione was no average girl, and he found himself surprisingly really liking that fact.

...

"I think I'd really like the story behind that," Remus said with a grin, as he hauled himself back onto the bed moments later.

Hermione's smile immediately slid off her face. "Let's just say it was a nickname," she whispered.

Terrified that the tears were going to begin again, Sirius suddenly cried: "Look!" and turned into a large dog right in front of them on the bed.

"Oh!" Hermione exclaimed with a visible jump. Sirius wagged his tail at her, and she smiled.

He padded across the bed to her and nuzzled at her clasped hands. She giggled at the contact before she began to stroke his head. "I always said I like you better like this," she said absentmindedly as he lay down with his head in her lap. She sighed. "Remus, what I am going to do?" she looked up at him.

Remus stared at Sirius-in-dog-form before he met her gaze and replied. "Hermione, please don't feel alone," he said quietly. A lump formed in Hermione's throat and she was too scared of crying again to speak. But Remus spoke again anyway. "I think you're going to be stuck with us, regardless," he said, grinning at her. "If there is any possibility of us being able to send you home, then we will make that happen."

"Thank you," she breathed. Hermione continued to stroke Sirius' head and neck as she stared at Remus; his fur truly was softer than it looked. _Much like his personality_, she thought with a smile.

She took a long shaky breath; today had been horrendous, but Hermione was silently glad that she had fallen into cahoots with these strange boys. As her mother used to say, "Everything comes up equal." And while she had been abandoned in a strange time and place with none of her family or friends, Hermione seemed to have gained several friends. The kinds of friends that don't come along very often in a person's life, and she felt strangely grateful.

When Hermione felt more comfortable that she wasn't going to start crying again (despite the overwhelming despair she felt inside and the intense urge to sob her heart out), she spoke again. "Do you think it will be okay with James if I sleep here tonight? You see... I'm awfully tired and... and... I…" Hermione took another deep breath.

Remus quickly spoke over her, noticing the distress. "Of course not! He was planning to ask you to stay, anyway!" he said, almost too enthusiastically.

"Oh," Hermione said. "Do you mind if I..." she gestured around her.

"Of course not," Remus repeated in a more gentle tone.

"Thanks," Hermione murmured as she slid down the pillows. Dog-Sirius shifted a little beside her. It was hard to tell if he was asleep himself, but he was making soft noises that Hermione couldn't distinguish between purring or soft snoring, so she let him be.

Hermione's eyes grew heavier, and the last thing she remembered before she drifted off was snuggling into the cover Remus had put over her before leaving the room. She fell into a deep and dreamless sleep, frequently using the dog next to her as a hot water bottle.

...

Hermione woke to darkness. The fire was still burning merrily across the room, but other than the warm glow it cast, the room was in a state of pitch black. For a split second while waking, she had entirely forgotten about her… _problem_. Hermione felt like she had actually had a good sleep, considering. The bed was comfortable, the room was warm, but she was alone, and very far from home.

Throwing her arms above her head on the array of pillows, Hermione let out a groan. What was she to do? Sure, it had seemed like a good idea at the time to let them know she was from the future, but if it got out to the wrong people, then who knew what mayhem it would cause. Especially during this time; it was the time of Voldemort's greatest power. There was a reason why he won this war.

Hermione suddenly gasped, and she shot bolt upright. An idea suddenly came to her: _what if she could save everyone_? She grinned to herself in the darkness, but abruptly froze as an array of thoughts came to her – how much could she actually change? Would the timeline just rearrange itself? Would it kill another instead? What if what happened in her future actually had the least casualties? How would Harry be able to defeat Voldemort if Lily and James lived?

She slouched back against the many pillows in defeat. There was no way that she could know she was actually making things better. But more importantly, Hermione didn't even know _if_ she could change the timeline.

Hermione knew that two types of time travel existed: those that can be changed and those that can't. In the wizarding world, it was the type that cannot be changed which existed. She also knew that travelling forward in time was impossible, no matter how much Remus had promised that they would help her return home. It was why wizards only travelled back at hourly intervals so they didn't age as they had to live through each time jump if it was any further.

The other kind of time travel, where it can be changed, Hermione found rather complicated. If this kind were to happen, the person who travelled back would create a different reality and would not actually be able to change the original timeline they'd come from. What Hermione understood from it was that, the timeline which the traveller comes from simply stays intact, but as soon as the time traveller changes something – _anything_ – the time traveller basically creates an alternate universe and a timeline which kind of runs parallel to their original one. Meaning that the people from their original timeline simply keep on living without them, and without any changes the time traveller may have made while going back.

Hermione rubbed her hands down her face hard and let out a noise similar to a whimper. All the possibilities were giving her a headache. She needed someone to talk to about this, and she needed to find out whether she was actually able to change the timeline at all. But the fact that she was present in a timeline where she didn't exist should be enough of an indication that the same rules didn't apply… right?

A knock at the door interrupted her, and she sat upright again. The door opened and Hermione was surprised to see that it was none of the boys, although, she knew that it shouldn't have been all that surprising since they weren't the only people in the house.

"Oh, good, you're awake," the person said, and Hermione identified them as a female, definitely an adult.

Hermione squinted into the darkness in order to see more of the person, but wasn't able to distinguish any more than a tall, thin, woman with long hair. She was, however, saved from any further effort, as the woman flicked her wand in the darkness and several candles around the room were lit.

"That's better," the woman said. She then made her way to Hermione's bedside. She sat in the chair next to the bed and placed her hand on top of Hermione's which was lying on top of the covers. "Oh, you poor dear," she said sympathetically.

The kind tone of the woman's voice brought back Hermione's urge to cry, but it disappeared quickly as she looked at the woman's face in the now lit room. The long dark hair and the strong features were strangely reminiscent of someone she knew… but it was clear in the woman's mannerisms that she was James' mother. Hermione gulped.

"I'm Dorea Potter, James' mother," she said, letting go of her hand. "He told me all about your unfortunate circumstances, and I'm so sorry."

Hermione stared at the beautiful woman, fighting the urge to cry again. _Oh, you're such a mess!_ She scolded herself. _But you're allowed to be!_ Another voice replied. _You've been abandoned in another time with no family or friends!_ Regardless, she shook the sadness off and smiled back at Dorea Potter.

"Thank you so much for letting me stay last night, Mrs Potter."

"You may as well call me Dorea now," Mrs Potter replied with a wave of her hand.

Hermione frowned slightly at her phrasing – what did that mean? However, she was saved from asking anything further, as Mrs Po- _Dorea_ continued. "I've gathered from the boys that you understand your predicament, therefore it won't crush you to hear that we won't be able to send you home, correct?" she said briskly, reminding Hermione slightly of Professor McGonagall.

Hermione mutely nodded, afraid to say anything more.

"Good," Dorea said with a nod. "Therefore, I can inform you that the boys and I, along with my husband, have come up with a cover story for you so that you may stay and build a life here."

Hermione bit her lip nervously. "So, you're really just going to keep me?" she asked quietly.

"Of course, dear! It would be barbaric of us just to send you out knowing you have nowhere to go!" Dorea looked shocked, but her expression and voice both softened as she continued. "Plus, I think my boys are rather taken with you." She winked, and Hermione smiled.

Maybe it wouldn't be so bad being stuck in 1976 after all.

...

"Black or Greengrass?"

Hermione wrinkled up her nose and Dorea laughed. "I understand why you'd want neither," she said with a smile.

"No, that's not what I meant," Hermione said hastily. She had recently learned that Dorea Potter was actually originally a Black – something that had actually stunned her into silence, but it had made clear why Dorea looked so much like someone else she knew; _Bellatrix_. But a kind-looking version, if that was even possible. "I just meant that being a Black might make me a target, but it would be easier for me than to be a Greengrass because I know more about the Black family tree therefore it would be a more plausible cover," she continued.

Dorea simply smiled. "Black it is!" she said, leaning down to sign a piece of parchment with a flourish. The rectangular parchment glowed for a moment then died down and Hermione's heart skipped a beat; it was official. Hermione was a Black.

_Hermione Isla Black_.

Dorea had given her a Black middle name since she didn't have a typical Black first name. Isla Black was one of the first to be blasted off the infamous tapestry, for running off to marry a muggle-born. She was Dorea's great aunt and still kept in touch by owl every so often. It was the irony which made Dorea pick that particular one – that and how it was the only family member who wouldn't mind it.

Hermione was torn between gulping in fear and giggling from nerves. It was all rather strange, but she was slowly getting used to it. Dorea had explained to her that she had a disowned squib brother, who would be happy claiming that Hermione was his illegitimate daughter. Dorea had already written him while Hermione had slept. There was a further disowned Greengrass squib that Marius, Dorea's brother, was in contact with who was happy to claim to be Hermione's mother.

Hence the choice: Black or Greengrass.

Hermione had thought the idea brilliant. While the thought of the poor, innocent squibs being disowned because of something that wasn't their fault horrified her, it created the perfect scapegoat. Due to the lost connections with the families, they wouldn't question the sudden appearance of Hermione with their name. Sure, there might be certain Blacks that would be angry with the daughter of two squibs keeping their name, but she was still technically a pureblood despite her new parent's lack of magical ability.

It also allowed Hermione to stay with the Potters, as they would be the closest magical family willing to take her in. Hermione's heart warmed at the thought of all these people coming together just to help her stay. It almost made missing home easy. Almost.

"I truly cannot thank you enough," Hermione said, picking up her new (faked) birth certificate and looking at the proof of her new identity. It turned out that Mr Potter- _Charlus_, had contacts within that particular department of the Ministry, and they had sorted that out within hours, all while Hermione had been asleep.

Dorea stroked Hermione's hair and smiled sadly at her. She took the certificate out of her hands gently. "Let me owl this to Marius so he sign it. I'll have to remind him to owl it back to Spencer before the oaf throws a hissy fit…"

Hermione nodded and sat down in the plush maroon chair as Dorea left the room. After explaining what exactly her cover was going to be up in the blue room, Dorea had marched Hermione down to her study on the ground floor (giving Hermione a good look at the opulent Potter Manor as she did) and gave her a trunk full of clothes more suited to the times. Then, after that was when they had begun discussing names and the signing of the certificate had taken place.

It was a whirlwind, but Hermione found herself feeling a little at peace. She didn't feel out of place or anything at all. And when Dorea came back into the room and immediately began babbling about how Hermione would like her room to be decorated, while walking her down to the kitchens to be fed, only one thought came to Hermione's mind: _I'm happy_.

* * *

**A/N:** I literally had three different versions of this chapter and I couldn't decide which to use therefore it was why this chapter took so long. But woo! Hermione's a Black! All of the Black names and relations I have used are actually real and is what JK claimed is the Black family tree.

I also wanted to ask whether you all want to know the endgame couple? I mean, it's obviously Remus or Sirius (like no one messes with Jily and Hermione and Peter is just a no). So would you like to know?

Please respond and review!

_**Holly - xo**_


	4. Chapter 4

"Peter!" Sirius yelled, and ran forwards to greet his friend with fervour.

Hermione froze mid-step.

She'd entirely forgotten about him.

After spending the last eleven days in a strange blissful state of carefree mischievousness with James and Sirius, Hermione had successfully managed to forget about completely everything. Well, almost everything. But as the summer holidays were coming to an end, reality was creeping back in, and Hermione had a job to do.

"How was your summer, mate?" James clapped the shorter boy on the shoulder, grinning ear to ear.

Hermione remained stock-still; as if he wouldn't be able to see her if she didn't move. Silly as it was, none of the boys had acknowledged her presence yet – which was a godsend, considering that Hermione was still gaping at them.

It certainly was strange though; seeing Peter Pettigrew as a teenager. The shock of Remus and Sirius wore off a little quicker because they had at least kept some of their looks from their teen years to their adult ones. James was a different matter altogether, mainly due to the fact that Hermione had never met him in her life. The only strangeness there was adjusting herself not to call "Harry!" whenever he walked into a room.

Peter, however, was _entirely_ different to when she had met him briefly two years ago. Adult Pettigrew was a shadow of a man, more animal-like than human after years in his Animagus form. Overweight and crazed, adult Peter was nothing like the bright, smiling, slightly chubby, young man in front of her now.

"Great!" Peter replied. Hermione physically jumped at the sound of his voice, and the three boys finally noticed her.

"Hermione!" Sirius exclaimed. "Come meet Peter!" He walked across the entrance hall to take her by the arm and lead her over to the other two.

"Oh… I…" Hermione tried to protest, but eventually relaxed up in Sirius' manse-like grip on her upper arm. She was sure he didn't mean it, but she was certain it was going to bruise.

"Peter, Hermione! Hermione, Peter!" James gestured between the two. Hermione managed a weak smile and nod, and Peter responded with a nervous smile.

"She's our cousin," Sirius said, and winked conspicuously.

Peter's face fell. "You never told me you had a cousin," he said, suddenly staring at the floor.

Hermione raised her eyebrows. She'd known that Peter's issues stemmed from feeling left out, but she didn't know that it was from _everything_ and that it was self-inflicted. How interesting.

"They didn't know they had a cousin," Hermione said suddenly, plastering a grin on her face. "Me neither, to be honest."

Peter let out a short, quiet laugh and immediately looked better.

This was it. This was the beginning of Hermione's mission. If she could indeed alter the timeline, _this _was where Hermione was going to start.

…

Peter left soon after dinner, much to Hermione's relief. Yes, he wasn't the same, but his presence still unnerved her. She still had to figure out if it were even possible for her to change the timeline, therefore unless she could, he was untrustworthy. It was a particularly difficult thing to determine because Hermione had no specific event she could try it out on. She wasn't lying when she told the boys she didn't actually know that much about them. That was why she needed Remus.

Hermione and James were sitting across from each other – lounging, really – in the armchairs surrounding the fireplace in the blue room, which Hermione had adopted as her own. After bidding the fourth Marauder farewell and nursing serious food-babies, the three Potter-children (as Dorea frequently liked to remind them they were) had retired to their section of the manor (the second floor of the west wing to be exact). Sirius had mumbled something about "Lying down for a mo'," and had disappeared into his own room hence leaving James and Hermione to their own devices.

"So," Hermione said, breaking the comfortable silence they had established.

James lifted his head and replied with a sleepy, "Mm?"

"When do you think Remus will be back?"

Even through the warm dim light of the room Hermione saw the small sly smile grow on James' face as he sat up. "Why do you ask?" he said.

Hermione suddenly found herself unable to look anywhere in James' direction. Grateful for the warmth of the fire to hide her blush, she too sat up. "Well, it's getting close to the end of the holidays and I'm concerned that he won't have enough time to fully prepare for the return to school." It was a rotten excuse, but Hermione couldn't think of anything better in the moment.

"Bollocks," James said with a snort and a wave of his hand. "If it wasn't for all the outrageous flirting, I would have thought he was your dad in the future 'cause you're so similar. But while it's clearly not that, there's something else, right? It's like you _know_ him. You said you knew all of us, but sometimes it's like you're wary of me and Sirius. And don't think I missed the way you reacted to Peter."

Hermione tried to mask the shock on her face. She was having difficulty knowing how to respond to that. Was she really acting differently around all the boys? Because she sure hadn't noticed. Although, it was very likely that what James said was correct. Hermione certainly had spent a lot more time with Lupin (how she had decided to differ between the 70's and 90's Remus Lupins), which would feasibly make it appear that she was closer to Remus here.

"We don't _outrageously_ anything," she mumbled.

James chuckled. "But seriously, Hermione," he said solemnly, "is there anything I should know?"

Images of Sirius Black in his Azkaban uniform pointing a wand at her, Remus Lupin as a werewolf hunting her down through the Forbidden Forest, Peter Pettigrew on the floor, crazed, pleading for his life, and Harry Potter being picked up from Kings Cross by the Dursleys all flew through her mind as she stared James in the face. She gulped.

"James please," she whispered, looking down at the floor.

"Voldemort."

Hermione sharply looked up at him. "What?"

"He's still alive then," James said in a hard tone.

"What do you mean?" Hermione said nervously. Her heartbeat started to quicken.

"If he was dead in your time, you wouldn't have looked so scared when I mentioned him, right?" he replied scathingly.

_Damn_, Hermione thought. She wasn't used to being outwitted, and she would have been impressed if she weren't so annoyed.

"Look-" she began, but James spoke over her.

"Twenty years… and the bastard still isn't dead," he said, staring into the fire. Hermione didn't know what to say to that, so she stayed silent. James then leaned forward so that his elbows were on his thighs, and looked at Hermione. "We've got to find out if you can change the timeline – we _have_ to," he said pleadingly.

Hermione couldn't do anything but nod mutely at him, because my god was he right; she simply _had _to figure out what exactly she could do. Then, maybe, Hermione could save them all.

…

It was Sunday night, and the three Potter children were leaving for Hogwarts in the morning. Hermione had, of course, already packed. However, James and Sirius were currently running around the entire manor in an attempt to gather all of their belongings. Needless to say, it wasn't going well and Hermione couldn't handle any more of the chaos, so she had therefore escaped to the gardens for some quiet.

She would never admit it to the boys, but she was nervous about going to Hogwarts. Dorea had organised for her attendance almost immediately after her new identity had been created. Dumbledore had been told the cover story, as they all agreed that as little people knew the better. Hermione knew that he wouldn't believe it for one second, but hoped that he would trust the Potters enough not to push the matter. So far he had not.

The evening after she had met with Dumbledore to be sorted again (still Gryffindor, thank god), Hermione had cried for the first time since arriving. It was the thought of being at Hogwarts without Harry or Ron which had made her sad. She wasn't particularly homesick, but she certainly missed the people. However, James and Sirius had somehow made it at least half better. Hermione didn't know what she would have done if she hadn't had the Potters when she arrived in 1976.

Remus on the other hand, Hermione hadn't seen since the week she had arrived. He'd been on some kind of study trip with his family for a week and was due to arrive sometime that night. Therefore she wouldn't see him until the Hogwarts Express in the morning, and quite frankly she couldn't wait.

The Potter manor gardens were just as stunning as the large house, if not more so. Over the past couple of weeks, Hermione had taken to wandering the vast grounds. Almost immediately she had established a granite bench, hidden in an alcove of rose bushes facing the fountain, as hers. Which was where she had found herself again.

It was a warm evening, and the sky was cloudless, giving view for the full moon. The light cast a bright enough light for Hermione to see perfectly. The only sounds she could hear were the gently tinkling of the fountain and the hush of the wind in the bushes surrounding her. It was a perfect night, but Hermione couldn't help but worry about Remus as she stared up at the moon.

"Wondering how he's doing?" a voice interrupted her thoughts.

Hermione jumped. The Marauders were the loudest boys she'd ever known, but man, could they move quietly. She saw Sirius standing a few feet in front of her to the right, obviously having come from the house.

"Do you spend many full moons apart?" Hermione asked as Sirius sat down next to her.

He, too, was now looking up at the moon. "No, not really," he shrugged, and looked sideways at her. "It's still strange to have a stranger know all our secrets."

Hermione opened her mouth to protest but he spoke over her. "You know what I mean," Sirius said with a lopsided grin. "Do we just get old and start telling people all our secrets or something?"

It was said lightly, but Hermione could tell that he genuinely was worried about how she knew. "I'm basically family," she said. "Figuratively adopted, if you may, because I'm Muggle-Born, and it's honestly just myself, Harry and Ron who know this much."

"So we just _gave _you the cloak and the map?" Sirius said slowly.

"Yes, they were given to us," Hermione said. _But not by the Marauders_, she thought to herself. "Plus you get drunk and tell us stories," she continued, thinking about last summer in Grimmauld Place and coming across an inebriated Sirius and Lupin in the kitchen.

Sirius let out a burst of laughter. "Yeah, that sounds like us alright."

"Look, Sirius," Hermione began, "I know how close you four boys are, and I don't want to encroach on your space or anything, so when we go back to school, I'm giving you permission to ignore me."

"What are you talking about?" Sirius was now frowning at her.

"You don't need to feel obliged to talk to me just because we live with each other."

Sirius threw his head back and laughed loudly, causing Hermione to frown. "Oh, Hermione," he said smiling. "I hate to break it to you, but you're one of us now."

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked, still frowning.

"It goes against all my instincts, but I trust you," Sirius replied.

"Uh, thanks?" Hermione couldn't tell if it was an insult or a compliment.

"No, no, I mean that you're right when you say the four of us are really close, like, that's why I was so surprised that we told you all those things about us. And I'm not very good at trusting people, especially new ones. Therefore, how well I have – all of us – taken to you, really is quite the oddity."

"So what are you trying to say?" Hermione asked slowly.

"James and I have agreed on it, and we have no doubt that Remus would also agree, and Peter too, that we would like to add you to our group, Hermione."

Hermione blinked at him.

"Hermione Black nee Granger," Sirius said in a serious tone, "would you give us the honour of becoming the only female Marauder?"

"_Oh my god_!" Hermione exclaimed. Her hands flew to her mouth. Did he say what she thought he just said?

"Jeez, we just want you to be our friend, it's not like I'm proposing." Sirius was giving her a side-eyed look which clearly told her she was overreacting.

Hermione hit him on the shoulder. "But you don't understand!" she said enthusiastically.

Sirius rubbed his arm dramatically. "I really don't," he mumbled.

Hermione leapt off the bench and twirled in a circle in front of the fountain before turning to face Sirius and his shocked expression. "Prove it," she said suddenly.

"What?" Sirius asked uncertainly.

"Prove that you want me to be a Marauder."

"I… don't… why… like how?"

"Uhm… wait, I know! Put me on the map!" Hermione burst out.

"The map?" Sirius asked warily.

Hermione knew that he was reluctant, but she also knew that if he actually did it, her point would be proven. "Please?" she asked.

Sirius seemed to hear the worry in her tone. "No, no," he said, waving his hands, "It's not that I don't want to have you on it; it's just that you don't have a name."

"A name?" Hermione asked confusedly.

"Yeah, like we can't have 'Messrs, Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, Prongs and Hermione'," on it, can we?" He laughed. "It would ruin the mystery, you see."

"Oh, _oh_," Hermione said, blushing with the stupidity of not realising. "No, of course not; that would be silly. Well, my Patronus is an otter, as you all well know, and since Patronuses are most often also reflected in a person's Animagus form, and since I am further not an Animagus, I suppose it would have to be something to do with that."

"Yeah, that would do nicely. What would you like it to be?"

Hermione visualised an otter, trying to identify its most defining characteristics. But after several moments, she simply blurted out: "Whiskers!"

"Nice," Sirius said, and began to dig around in his pocket. "You're lucky I'm awful at packing, otherwise I wouldn't have this on me."

"Wha..." Hermione began, but as Sirius pulled out a yellowed piece of parchment, she immediately realised what was happening.

Hermione Granger was going to be named on the Marauders Map. Right there and then.

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good," Sirius mumbled, tapping the paper with his wand. "You know," he said as the black ink started to swirl around the page, "we hardly use this anymore, but I like to keep it around, just in case."

"Uh-huh," Hermione said absentmindedly as Sirius began to wave his wand intricately over the paper. "What spells are you using?"

Sirius just shrugged. "Dunno," he said. "Moony did most of the charm work on it, and I'm trying them all to see which one'll do it."

Hermione suddenly doubted asking Sirius to do this for her. What if he just messed the whole map up? Or ruined it? Then the other boys would just hate her for destroying something that was so important to them. But just as she was about to voice her doubts aloud, Sirius let out a triumphant: "Ah-ha!"

"Did you get it?" Hermione asked quickly.

"Yup," he said, looking up at her with a grin. "Wanna see?"

Hermione nodded and sat back down next to him on the now cold bench.

"Mischief managed," Sirius mumbled, and the paper cleared. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." Hermione had heard that phrase uttered many times in the past few years, but as she heard Sirius say it again that night, she realised that she had never heard it said with so much conviction; as if it were truly what he were there to do. Writing began to materialise on the paper again.

However, as more appeared, Hermione noticed that it was no longer the neat calligraphy as it were before – instead it was now a black scrawl. "The writing's changed," she murmured.

"Yeah, well, if Remus did it before, it would have been his handwriting, and now that I've done it – it's in mine."

"Of course," Hermione said quietly, as the introductory words finally appeared.

"_**Messrs Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, Whiskers and Prongs are proud to present: The Marauders Map."**_

Hermione's hands found their way back to her mouth. _She was on the map_.

"I know _messr_ is for Mr, but I thought what the hell, let's give them a little more mystery. Plus 'miss' would totally throw off the dynamic, sorry," Sirius said with a huge grin on his face.

Hermione felt like she was going to cry, but instead, she leapt off the bench again. "Do you know what this means?" she exclaimed at Sirius.

"Again, no," he replied.

"Put a locking spell on it," Hermione gestured to the paper.

"Okay…" Sirius said before obliging. "There, what now?"

"Now," Hermione said, with a grin growing on her face, "We can change the future."

It was then Sirius' turn to leap off the bench. "What?" he exclaimed excitedly.

"In my time there were only ever four Marauders – and we've just created the fifth!"

"Which means that you _can_ change the timeline!"

"Yes, yes! Oh my goodness, yes!" Hermione ran to hug Sirius, and was engulfed in his long arms. "I can save them all," she mumbled into his chest.

"Yes, you can, and we will," he replied.

Hermione pulled away to look up at his face, to find him grinning as stupidly as she was sure she was at their discovery. Hermione didn't think she had ever felt as happy as she had in that moment. Which was probably the reasoning behind her being the first to lean in.

Not ever, not once in her life, past or present, did Hermione Granger think she'd find herself kissing Sirius Black. Or enjoying it so much.

Yes, she had been the one to lean in first, but once that obstacle had been cleared, Sirius took it upon himself to initiate the actual kissing. There was no caution to it, no initial peck, just crashing mouths and wandering hands.

Hermione could feel her stomach drop as his lips met hers, but in a good way. Her heart felt like it was hammering its way out of her chest, but she was calm. It was a strange paradox she found herself in, but this was what she wanted. Exactly this. She hadn't been kissed many times before, but Hermione was certain that she wouldn't often, if ever, be kissed like this again.

Somehow, her fingers had woven themselves into his silky dark hair, but she found no reason to untangle them – not when it felt so nice. The places in the small of her back where his large hands held her, burned her to the core, which was also a surprisingly good feeling.

Who knows how long it was before they broke apart – certainly not those two – but when they did, the world seemed to have silenced in that time. Even the wind was quiet. The only sounds Hermione could hear was the blood rushing through her ears and their heavy breathing.

Neither knew what to say in the aftermath, therefore an awkward silence appeared. Then, Hermione did as any mature person would in a similar situation; she ran.

* * *

**A/N:** I'm glad to say that the majority guessed correctly what the endgame couple was. Which is great for me, since you won't be disappointed.

Please review! I love to hear what you have to say.

_**Holly - xo**_


	5. Chapter 5

Hermione ran through the gardens and up into the south wing of the house, and continued through the ballroom and the entrance hall, up the main stairwell and down the corridor to the west wing, until she found herself in front of her bedroom door. She breathed a sigh of relief at having reached her sanctuary without interruption. However, just as she put her hand on the doorknob, a shout startled her.

"Oi, Hermione!"

Hermione jumped, and her hand jerked away from the handle. She turned around to see James' head sticking out of his bedroom door down the hall. Taking a deep breath, she walked down to meet him. He greeted her with a lopsided grin.

"Is it windy outside?" James asked confusedly as he let her into his room.

"Huh?" Hermione said, distracted.

"Your hair... it's a bit..." James gestured wildly with his hands around his head.

Hermione's own hands flew to her head. "_Oh my god_." Her cheeks flushed as she was again reminded of her forward actions earlier.

"I know, but don't worry. It'll just help people believe that you're a Potter... well, _Black._ But that works too, I suppose." He ruffled the back of his hair, making it even messier than it was previously. "There," he said. "Now we match."

"Oh, ha bloody ha," Hermione said, shoving him playfully. "What did you want me for? I was on my way to bed, you know."

"It's barely eleven o'clock," James replied, aghast. Hermione had learned quickly that James and Sirius were night owls – something which clashed with her own early bird personality frequently.

"It's tiring being around you two all day." Hermione smirked as she dropped herself down onto James' bed. "_And_ we have an early start tomorrow."

"Aw yeah, nice, thanks, Hermione," James said. He shut the door with his foot behind him. "I was just about to compliment you on how radiant you are today as well."

"I am not packing your things for you, James Potter."

"Dammit, Hermione, _please_?"

"I _told_ you that you should have started when I did. Honestly, you're just as bad as Ro–" Hermione froze. "Oh," she said.

"What?" James said, also freezing where he stood. Hermione knew that she didn't often talk about things from her past... _their future_. Therefore it was plausible for James to think that it was very important if she were to mention something at all. But unfortunately, that wasn't the reason why she had stuttered over Ron's name. _Ron_, she thought breathily, _what the hell am I doing?_

"Hermione?" James pushed. He walked towards her. "What is it?" he asked gently. "I know we aren't the same as your friends and family from home, but goddamn will we try to make it good for you here." Hermione felt the bed dip next to her as he sat down.

The movement caught her attention and she looked up at him. "Oh, James, I know," Hermione said with a small smile. "But it's not that... I just... Oh my... I don't quite... It's... Ah... Well..._ Sirius and I kissed_!" Hermione blurted before flopping backwards onto the bed. She covered her face with her hands.

James was silent for a few moments, which made Hermione nervous. _Say something!_ she thought, taking her hands away from her face to look at him. _Anything! Anything at all!_ Then, he startled her by dropping down next to her in a similar position, with them both staring up at the canvas of the double four poster.

"Hermione, _why_?" he whined.

"Excuse me?" Hermione blinked several times in amazement.

"Now I owe Pete two Galleons! Hermione, WHY!"

Hermione rolled onto her side and punched James in the arm. "And why exactly are you betting on _that_?"

James ignored her. "Why couldn't you have waited until tomorrow when you saw Moony again? Why do things like this always happen to _me_? Is this because of the time I got Remus detention after blaming turning McGonagall's hair into snakes on him? Because I do not regret that at all."

Hermione punched him in the arm again. "You... _You bet on whether I would kiss Sirius or Remus_?" she exclaimed.

James flinched. "Even Sirius thought it would be Remus," he mumbled, rubbing his arm.

"Oh, you..." Hermione stuttered. "You have a damn lot of maturing to do before Lily will even look twice at you James Potter!" She sat up and swiftly slid off the bed grumpily.

"How do you know about Evans?" James said calmly from behind her, and Hermione froze. She turned to face him (he was now sitting upright with an irritating smug smirk), her face blank.

"The Wizarding community is a small place," she said with a shrug, trying to be nonchalant.

"Oh, bollocks!" James replied, now grinning.

Hermione pointed her finger at him. "Now you, you stop that."

"I'm not doing anything," he said, smirking.

"I'm ignoring you." Hermione made for the door.

"I love you Hermione!" James shouted behind her as she opened it.

"I didn't say anything, you big prat," she replied with a smile and a shake of her head. "Go to bed." Hermione waved her wand lazily behind her and James' stuff began to pack itself. She shut the door behind her with a smirk of her own.

Hermione barely got ready for bed with the energy she had left. It truly was tiring being around James and Sirius all day. She fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow; therefore, analysing what had happened that evening would just have to wait until tomorrow.

...

The following morning was surprisingly calm, considering they had to be on the platform for quarter to eleven, and James and Sirius were most definitely not morning people or organised ones at that. It was only twenty past ten and James was already half asleep on his breakfast. Sirius wasn't far behind, which Hermione didn't mind at all. After sleeping on it, she woke up decided that she was totally not ready to talk about what happened the previous night. The boys' sleepiness was her perfect scapegoat.

"Will you be seeing us off later?" Hermione said, turning to Charlus.

"No, sorry, dear, I have to go into work. But Dorea got the morning off, the lucky sod, so she'll be going with you." He patted her shoulder. "Are you nervous?" he asked in a lower tone.

Hermione gulped. She hadn't really had the time to feel anything about going to Hogwarts. All the new people. The different teachers. A new curriculum. Well, _now_ she was nervous.

"It's okay, dear," Charlus said. "It's entirely normal for people to be anxious about starting school... again." He winked and Hermione felt a little lighter.

_It'll be okay_, she thought_. I have these silly boys, and I know Hogwarts. How different can it be?_

"Okay!" Dorea suddenly exclaimed, clapping her hands together. James and Sirius both jolted and made vague grunts of discontent at the noise. "Time to go!" She clapped her hands together a few times more with a wink in Hermione's direction. Hermione smiled. It was definitely going to be okay.

...

Twenty minutes, two Floo journeys and a brisk walk later, the group of four were standing in front of the Hogwarts Express. The platform was busy and Hermione didn't recognise a single person in the mass of people around her. But then again, how was she to? Taking a deep breath, she struggled forward through the crowd with the boys.

Her trunk wasn't heavy because she'd cast a Feather-Weight charm on it before departing; a particular charm which Hermione had failed to remind James and Sirius to also perform. Then, while she all but tossed her own trunk onto the train, they were still squabbling over who was to help who put whose trunk on first. Sometimes, she truly did wonder how they achieved such a name for their magical abilities.

Rolling her eyes, Hermione turned to look around the platform. The day had been grey to begin with; a thick blanket of clouds covering the entirety of the London skyline. But the heat of the summer still lingered, leaving a heavy mugginess in the air and Hermione was sure that a storm was coming. Therefore, visibility across the steam covered platform was very low. It was just a sea of grey with an occasional head appearing, with loud chatter and laughter.

Someone put their hand on Hermione's shoulder, and she jumped. Hermione looked up to see Dorea smiling down at her. The elder woman led her a few feet away from the boys and stopped, facing her.

"I just wanted to remind you that while you might not be our blood, you _are_ a part of our family now, Hermione, darling," she said softly. "It's terribly selfish of me to say so... but I am so glad you came to us."

Hermione gulped. "No... I..." Her throat felt thick and she was having difficulty talking. "Thank you," she mumbled. How was she supposed to say that in a horrible way she was glad, too?

Dorea pulled her into a tight hug. "You have a good term, dear. And keep those boys in check for me, won't you?"

Hermione's smile wrinkled as she was pressed so close to Dorea's chest. "You know I will."

"Oi, Sirius, looks like you've been replaced as the favourite!" Hermione heard James say from behind her.

"What? Dorea, NO!" Sirius exclaimed dramatically before Hermione felt another body crash into hers from behind.

"I can't believe the only one here who came out of your womb isn't included in the goodbye hug."

Dorea opened one arm out to him. "Oh come on then," she said.

James soon joined the group hug and Hermione was left crushed in a mixture of chests and armpits. "Aw, Pads, mate, you smell amazing," James said somewhere above Hermione's left ear. She stifled a giggle. Sirius really did smell great; something peppery but fruity was emanating from him and dousing them all in the scent.

"Cheers, Prongs. Shame I can't say the same about you. Seriously, you still smell like fore-"

"Hey-" James began, but Dorea cut them both off.

"Right, okay, okay. Disperse, children, disperse." She let them all go and made shooing gestures with her hands. Hermione tried to untangle herself from Sirius and James now that she could breathe again. "Child from my womb," Dorea continued, turning to James with a finger pointed at him. "Do not get in trouble this year. No matter what your father says, he does _not_ find the details of your excursions hilarious." James smirked but nodded as she turned to Sirius. "Runaway child, same goes for you and stop encouraging Charlus by sending him letters telling him of your excursions."

"But he loves hearing the stories!" Sirius pouted.

Dorea shook her head before finally turning to Hermione. "My time-travelling child," she said quietly with a smile. "Make sure these two do what they're told, but most importantly, _have fun_." Dorea then began to usher them all to the train door. "I'll see you toerags at Christmas. Remember, I love you!" Then she all but pushed them up the step.

Hermione shut the door behind her as James and Sirius continued to shout at Dorea out of the window.

"I love you, too, Mother!"

"No, _I _love you too!"

"Oh shush and be gone with you."

The guard blew the whistle and a gust of fresh steam blew over the station; the train was getting ready to leave. Hermione ran to the window between Sirius and James. The platform was then filled with the shouts of farewell and the slamming of doors. Seconds later, the train started to move and Hermione, James and Sirius began to wave enthusiastically at Dorea. She walked with the moving train for a few steps before stopping and blowing them a kiss. "Remember to write!" she called as they rounded the corner and out of sight.

Hermione turned away from the window and took a deep breath. It had been an emotional farewell – something that she had never experienced before. With her own parents, it had always simply been a few kisses and a '_cheerio_'. Why was saying goodbye to a woman who wasn't her mother so difficult?

James then interrupted her thoughts by nudging her arm with his elbow. "Come on," he said when she looked up. "Maybe Pete and Remus will already be in the compartment."

"'_The_' compartment?" Hermione questioned as she followed the two boys down the corridor.

"Yeah, same one for six years," Sirius said over his shoulder. "Couldn't be like the rest of them – grappling for one at the last minute or having to _share_. Oh, the horror." He shuddered.

Hermione laughed. "I should have figured you lot would have your own compartment."

"Only the best for The Marauders," James said with a wink.

"You act as if you own Hogwarts itself."

"What? You think we don't?" Sirius stopped and turned around with a sly grin on his face.

"Oh come on," Hermione replied, rolling her eyes.

"You'll see, Hermione," James said and clapped her on the shoulder, as Sirius opened the compartment door nearest him. They all filed in after him.

"Well, it looks just like an ordinary compartment to me," Hermione said as she dropped down onto one of the seats.

James sat down next to her. "Well, it is," he shrugged. "Except that it's charmed so that only we can see it." He shared a smirk with Sirius, who sat down across from them.

"You can't!" Hermione exclaimed, looking between them. "That's vandalism! And some serious magic..." She frowned.

"You want to know how we did it, don't you?" James said teasingly. He nudged her with his shoulder.

"Oh stop it," Hermione scolded. "Whether it's impressive or not, it's selfish and I'm disappointed in you all." She huffed and crossed her arms, pointedly keeping her eyes set on the window.

"Ah, darling Hermione." Hermione sharply glared at Sirius, ignoring the rapid increase of her heartbeat at his intense look. "You're one of us now, so whatever we do, is also a reflection on you... _Whiskers_." He winked and sat back in his chair.

James looked between them for a moment. "Oh so _that's_ what you were doing," he said.

"Excuse me?" Hermione raised an eyebrow at him.

"I put her on the map," Sirius stated as if that explained it all.

"Moony will be a little put out that he didn't get to do it," James said with a smirk. Sirius replied with a shrug.

"Speaking of," Hermione interrupted. "Where are Remus and Peter? Shouldn't they be here by now?"

They had now been on the train for around fifteen minutes, and it only took seven to walk the entire length of it, and that was if they'd gotten on at the other end. James and Sirius shared a look.

"They shouldn't be long. Probably got held up by some firsties. You know how much they get in the way," James said with a careless wave of his hand. Hermione narrowed her eyes at him, but he continued to talk. "So... why Whiskers?" he asked, blatantly trying to change the subject.

But before Hermione could open her mouth to respond, Sirius spoke over her. "Since Hermione isn't an Animagus, we used her Patronus." He was sitting with his legs stretched out over the entire bench across from Hermione and James, with one arm behind his head. Hermione took this opportunity to take a good look at Sirius, since he was facing the window and not looking at them as he spoke. "Apparently they're the same," he continued.

True to his name, Sirius indeed wore a lot of black – which was something Hermione had noticed over the past month. He also wore a lot of skinny jeans, but made Hermione question whether they had been fashionable in the seventies that she knew of. But even so, if they weren't in the Muggle world, who was to say that they also wouldn't be in the Wizarding world? There were certain things that Hermione was still getting to grips with in the generation gap aspect. In particular: the fashion. Her own seventies wardrobe consisted mainly of sundresses, as Hermione had discovered that flared jeans were unfortunately not her thing and dresses were apparently the only other alternative apart from either excessively long skirts or impossibly short ones. She was desperate to get her hands on some skinny jeans of her own.

Hermione hated to admit it, but Sirius was _fit_. As in, he was a stunning teenage boy. In fact, all of the Marauders were good-looking in their own way, if she were to think about it. It was as if they covered every spectrum of handsomeness possible in their little friend group, therefore it was not surprising to Hermione now that when people in the Order had said that girls had flocked to them.

A movement in her left eye brought her attention to the window; Sirius was jiggling his foot off the seat and it was reflected in the window. Then, as Hermione brought her eyes up, she saw that he was looking at her, and by the way he was smirking, he had been for a while.

Hermione turned away, blushing. Luckily, their attention was then grabbed by the opening of the compartment door and two teenage boys all but falling in. There was silence in the compartment apart from the heaving breathing of Peter and Remus, leaning on each other on the inside of the door.

"Took you long enough," Sirius finally said.

"Lo... Lockhart," was all Remus managed to pant before he sat down in a slump on the bench next to James. Sirius sat up and shuffled over to allow Peter to sit next to him.

"Lockhart... As in _Gilderoy_ Lockhart?" Hermione asked, her mouth hanging open. _It couldn't be_.

"Oh god," James said with a groan. "Do _not_ tell me that's who one of us marries."

Hermione snorted and laughed loudly. "Ha!" she exclaimed. "You wish. What's he like? Is he in our year? What was he doing?"

Sirius groaned loudly. "Urgh, looks like we've got another fangirl here. And I thought you were different, Hermione. I am so disappointed."

Hermione glared at him. "I am _not_ one of his fangirls. He is a fraud and a liar and a joke of a wizard."

Sirius gave out a low whistle. "Jeez, wonder what he did to get your wand in a twist."

"You really need to ask that?" Remus said quietly. He was sitting in the corner of the bench with his eyes shut. Hermione noticed that he looked tremendously pale and tired. But then again, of course he would – it was the day after the full moon.

Sirius nodded his head. "Very true, Moony. So," he said, turning his attention directly to Hermione. "Did he try to charm your hair into ringlets but instead turn your eyelashes blue?"

Hermione blinked at him. "No… he did not," she said warily. "Why?"

Sirius smirked and gestured his head towards Remus, who looked as if he wanted to just melt into the train seat and never come out.

"No!" Hermione said with a giggle.

"Yep," Sirius replied proudly. "Couldn't fix it for three weeks, eh Moony?"

Remus groaned. "All I can say is that thank Merlin it he decided to do it on the journey home for the Christmas holidays."

"Well," Hermione stated. "He may be inept at every aspect of magic, but I would advise you to avoid one of his Memory Charms, should it come your way. He seems to have mastered _that_, at the very least."

"Huh," Sirius said. "Who would've thought?"

"Remus tutored Lockhart for Charms a few years ago, and even now he still comes up to Moony every time he learns a new spell," James explained. "But every single bloody time, it goes wrong. Hilarious, but irritating."

Hermione bit the inside of her cheek to refrain from laughing. At James' statement, Remus had gone from rosy pink to traffic light in a matter of seconds. She really shouldn't have been laughing at his expense, but he really didn't have to look so hilariously uncomfortable about it. Sirius and James, on the other hand, had no qualms about laughing at their friend's expense.

"But... how come you know Lockhart if you've never been to Hogwarts before?" Peter's confused voice carried over the laughter and hit Hermione like she'd been punched in the stomach. She had entirely forgotten that Peter didn't know. Should he know? In foresight, it was a terrible idea, but now she knew that she could change the timeline – maybe it was okay for Peter to know. Surely, it was better than forcing three Marauders to keep a secret from the fourth?

"Well, Peter," Hermione said quickly, so that the other three wouldn't have an opportunity to speak first. "I have a bit of a story behind that, if you'd like to hear it?"

* * *

**A/N:** I'm having particular fun with seeing which characters come back in the past, and I hope you like what I have lined up! Peter isn't going to be a bad guy, I mean, he was just a kid here, so don't expect assery (from him anyway). Next chapter is Hogwarts and Lily yay! Please review!

**_Holly - xo_**


	6. Chapter 6

"So... you _know _me?"

Hermione bit her lip before responding to Peter. "Yes, well, I do… but I know you more from stories than personally."

"But you know the other boys more? Why?"

"No, I- I barely knew them too. I'd never even met James before I woke up in his house."

Hermione watched Peter's frown relax a little. It had been difficult telling him the truth and trying not to seem selective about it; because there were of course things he couldn't know about. Thanks to the Marauders' terribly illegal spells on the compartment, Hermione knew that no one would overhear their conversation, so therefore that was why she had banished the other three rather than take Peter out instead. She knew that this particular story would be better explained with just her and Peter alone.

"Look, Peter… I'm sorry I made them keep it from you. It was my entire fault; please blame me."

It was important for Hermione to get it into his head that the boys wouldn't willingly exclude him. She watched as Peter shook his head harshly at the floor before looking up at her.

"I get it… you know us… but you don't… so yeah, I get it. I think."

Hermione smiled and opened her mouth to reply, but Peter spoke first.

"But… Remus… why, out of all the people you could have gotten in contact with, you chose him?"

Hermione froze. Why had she chosen to send her Patronus to Remus? She slouched back into the seat. Maybe it was a combination of her pride after being able to conjure the otter and wanting her old DADA teacher to see it. Or maybe it was because she was thinking about Sirius, so had automatically thought of Remus. Or perhaps it had been because he was the member of the Order she was closest to. She didn't know.

"I don't think I know the answer to that…" Hermione mumbled. She suddenly laughed, startling Peter. "But thank you for asking me a question I don't know the answer to."

"Uh… you're welcome?"

Hermione laughed again. "Are we okay now? Because that would make me very happy."

"Yeah, sure, of course." Peter grinned.

Hermione stood up. "Let's get those idiots back in here then."

…

"Are you sure, Hermione? Because we could really go all ou-"

"Yes! Sirius, I am absolutely sure that I do not want any kind of 'entrance'."

"Did you just use air quotations? What are you trying to imply? What, dear Hermione, do you think we would do?"

"Oh, just something horrifically attention-seeking and terribly embarrassing for me no doubt." Hermione rolled her eyes at Sirius and jumped out of the carriage – straight into a muddy puddle. "Drat!" she exclaimed, spitting some of the splatter out of her mouth.

"_Drat_?" James repeated with a laugh as he dropped down beside her (with an annoying amount of grace). "Oh, you're adorable, Hermione Potter."

Hermione sighed and shook out her arms. She was covered in mud and it had started to rain. She was _not_ going to take this as an omen. "James, you _know_ it's Black, and you really can't go around saying things like that. Keeping the story straight is essential."

A loud, obnoxious laugh broke out suddenly from behind Hermione. She froze, dreading to turn around and face the jibes. "Sirius," she started, with a deadly tone. "You _dare_, and I'll make it my personal mission to ensure that you don't have a bed to sleep on for the entire term."

Sirius emerged from her left, barely visible through the downpour, with his hands held up. "Okay, fine, I won't say anything." He lowered his hands. "But my, my, don't you suit the drowned rat look, Hermione. No offence, Pete. Moony – help the lady. You know cleaning spells better than me."

"Which isn't particularly surprising," Remus replied dryly, silently appearing at Hermione's side.

"Thanks," she muttered as he began to siphon off the worst of the dirt. He shrugged. "Oh, hold on," Hermione continued. "_Impervius_!" She'd entirely forgotten that she knew a spell to keep the rain off. Hermione cast it again four more times.

"Neat," James said. "You know, that spell is perfect for Quidditch. Having glasses and all."

"That's what I used to use it for," Hermione muttered.

"But you don't fly," Sirius said.

Hermione shook her head. "No, but my friends did."

"And they had glasses, too?" James said. The group of five began to trudge up to the castle along with the other drenched students.

Hermione nodded. "One of them. He was one of the best players Hogwarts has ever seen," she said with a sad smile.

"Please tell me he was our kid?" Sirius pleaded.

Hermione laughed. "Our?" she repeated.

Sirius shrugged. "Since you won't say from whom the child was borne, I've decided that he belongs to all four of us."

"You don't understand how parenting works, do you?"

"Nah."

"That's definitely not surprising," Hermione replied with a short laugh as she climbed the stone steps into the Entrance Hall. At the top she turned to say something to James, but halted mid-step and it slipped from her mind as she spotted something beyond the doors.

It was difficult to see through the rain and darkened sky, but Hermione could have sworn she could see some kind of horse near to the carriage closest to them. She squinted her eyes in an effort to see whatever it was.

"What is it?" James said, appearing at her side. He mirrored her body language, also in an attempt to see out into the gloom.

Hermione shrugged just as she suddenly noticed an out of place movement by the horse-thing; it's _wing_. She gasped and reeled backwards, standing on James' foot in the process, earning a yelp from him.

_Thestrals_.

She could see them… which meant that the Sirius she knew truly was dead.

Hermione felt sick and a tightening in her chest. Then she suddenly felt a hand grasp around her own. Hermione looked up and began to breathe heavily.

"You okay?" Sirius muttered in her ear.

Hermione flinched. Sirius was _dead_. She had seen him die. But he was _here_. Holding her hand. Hermione yanked her hand out of his and took another step away. She started to hyperventilate.

"What have we got here?" An unknown voice spoke slowly from behind her. Hermione whipped around and dropped her mouth open in shock. "A female who doesn't appreciate your attentions, Black? The tables certainly have turned." Then, with a look that Hermione wasn't entirely unfamiliar with, Severus Snape sneered at her.

Hermione suddenly felt light-headed and a similar feeling begin to spread through her fingers. "I ca- can't- breathe…" She began to gasp and press her chest. Hermione felt someone grab her arms.

"EVANS!" James yelled somewhere near Hermione's ear. "Evans! Take her up to the dorm. She needs to lie down or something, I don't know! You know medical stuff, right?"

His voice sounded like it was being channelled through water to Hermione, and her head began to swim. _What was happening?_

"I am not yours to be called upon whenever you need something, Potter! What's going on here? Who is she? What did you do?"

"Enough with the twenty questions, Evans. Help us get her out of here!" Sirius spat.

"Stop it!" Evans yelled. "You're making it worse."

Hermione suddenly saw a figure appear in her line of sight. A redhead.

"Hey," Evans said gently. "It's okay, just breathe. What's your name?"

Hermione blinked a few times to clear her sight, but immediately regretted it as what she saw toppled her over the edge.

"Harry…" Hermione mumbled as the familiar bright green eyes faded into dark and she collapsed.

…

Remus could no longer feel his hands from wringing them so much. He was nervous and had paced the corridor outside the Hospital Wing countless times, back and forth past the other Marauders.

"She's not giving birth or anything, Moony."

Remus halted immediately, his heart beginning to race. "What do you mean?" he stammered out. Had he spoken aloud?

He had been the one to catch Hermione's dead weight, being the closest to her. However, it had also allowed him to hear the last thing she said before going down.

_Harry_.

She had said the name of the boy they now knew to be the son of a Marauder – while looking at _Lily_.

And Remus was the Marauder she knew the most, which he worked out could mean only one thing:

Harry was _his_ and Lily's child.

Remus wanted to throw up. Not at the thought of Lily… which had shamefully crossed his mind in the past… but at the thought of James in the future. Were they still friends after his obvious betrayal? If Hermione didn't know the other three boys so well then that must be the case. It must have happened some time after Hogwarts, tearing the Marauders apart. Remus didn't want to be responsible for that, but at the same time he couldn't _not_ let it happen and stop a child from being born. Also, he couldn't suppress the lightness in his heart at the thought of having a son. A son _not_ afflicted with his condition.

But hell, he was way too young to be worrying about whether he was the father of a child or not.

"You're acting real jittery, mate," James replied with a sceptical look in his eyes.

_He knows, he knows_, Remus thought in a panic to himself.

"I… I…" he started, but the opening of the Hospital Wing doors cut him off.

Madam Pomfrey appeared between the large doors. "Oh, it's you lot," she said, shutting the door behind her. "No visiting tonight. Come along, we're missing the feast."

"Is she alright?" Sirius asked eagerly.

"Miss Black?" Madam Pomfrey turned around to face them. "Oh yes, she's completely fine – exhausted, but fine."

"What happened to her?" Sirius started to follow Madam Pomfrey down the corridor and Remus ran to catch up.

"Major panic attack," she stated. "Has she experienced any kind of trauma recently? A death in the family? A serious break-up? The Cruciatus Curse?"

The casual tone of her voice shocked Remus. His first instinct was to deny all of them, but it judging by the little that Hermione had told them about what had been going on before she left the future, it was actually very likely that it all had happened to her.

"No!" Sirius said.

"Padfoot," Remus muttered under his voice. When Sirius wheeled around to face him, Remus nodded at him, causing Sirius' eyebrows to shoot up his forehead.

"Well… maybe…" Sirius said to Madam Pomfrey with a slight shrug.

"All?" she exclaimed. "Well, luckily, I mixed some potion for the after affects of the Cruciatus Curse in with her Sleeping Potion anyway. That should help heal the muscles, but there's nothing I can do for the brain, I'm afraid."

"_The brain_?" James exclaimed.

"Yes, but not to worry, Miss Black doesn't show any signs of being overexposed. She will recover fully. However, I will assume that you four are the closest things to friends she has right now, therefore I will advise you to help her adjust to her new life here. Hogwarts is an intimidating place, especially with her starting so late." They had reached the Great Hall doors, and Madam Pomfrey stopped to face them. "Now, I suggest you erase those worried looks from your faces and go in there and stuff yourselves silly. I've asked Miss Evans to escort Miss Black to the dorms in the morning. You four are welcome to assist."

Then with a swift movement, she opened the large doors and swept into the great room, leaving the four boys gaping after her.

"Come on then," Peter said nudging Remus' arm. "She's fine."

Remus nodded and followed his friends into the noisy hall. He felt relieved about Hermione's health, he really did – but thought of a possible son never escaped his mind for the rest of the night. For the first time since Peter, Sirius and James became his friends and accepted his lycanthropy, Remus went to bed feeling hopeful about his future.

…

Hermione was eating breakfast when a visitor appeared at the foot of her bed.

"Hello," Lily Evans said calmly, placing one hand on the metal railing.

The surprise caused Hermione to choke on her pumpkin juice mid-sip. "He... hell…" she tried to reply, but there was now a burning feeling in her throat where the juice had stuck.

Evans smiled at her. "You okay?"

Waking up and remembering the humiliation of the previous night had been enough for Hermione to never want to show her face outside the Hospital Wing ever again. But she had allowed one singular giggle at the irony of rejecting Sirius' offer to give her 'an entrance'. It looked like Hermione had managed that all by herself.

Hermione sighed. "Physically, yes," she said, shuffling to sit up straighter. "But I don't think I'll recover from the embarrassment any time soon."

Lily softly laughed. "If it makes you feel any better, I threw a platter of éclairs at Nearly Headless Nick at the welcome feast in first year. I didn't take the appearance of his face in the middle of my trifle all that well."

Hermione let out a guffaw before clamping her hand over her mouth. "I'm sorry," she spluttered as she noticed Lily's raised eyebrows. "That's just so funny."

"You know what the worst part was?" Lily said, with a wave of her hand to show that she was fine with the laugh.

"What?" Hermione bit her lip. _Thank god_, she thought, _the last thing I need is for Harry's mother to hate me_.

"The whole Gryffindor table cheered and the Prewett twins lifted me onto their shoulders and carried me up and down the hall."

"No!" Hermione exclaimed out of both shock and humour.

"Dumbledore was too busy clapping along to do anything about it."

Hermione then began to laugh so hard, she could feel the muscles in her stomach beginning to cramp. "I wish I had seen that," she said breathlessly.

"_That's_ what you call an embarrassment."

"I bet James loved that," Hermione said before she could stop herself.

"Potter?" Lily asked, surprised. "Well I don't know anything about that," she said with a shrug. "But speaking of," she continued before Hermione could reply. "I heard that those damn boys were planning on coming to collect you, so we should hurry before they do."

"You're signing me out?"

"Yep. Madam Pomfrey essentially commanded I do so, but I wanted to anyway. We're going to be dorm mates by the look of it."

Hermione threw back the cover and swung her legs out of the bed. "How's that?"

"Well, there's a fifth bed in the Gryffindor girl's dorm that wasn't there before."

Hermione shuffled her shoes on and stood up. "Isn't there always five beds in the dorm?" she asked. Was there a small intake this year or something?

Lily looked at her out of the side of her eye as they stepped away from the bed. "No… four beds in each room in each dorm in each house. Although, I always did wonder how the numbers always matched up exactly in each house every year."

Hermione stopped. "There are only thirty-two students in the whole year?"

"What? No... There's sixty-four. Why the questions?" Lily stopped too, turning to look behind her at Hermione.

"There's _four_ Gryffindor dorms?" Hermione exclaimed.

"Yeah, two for each gender," Lily shrugged. "Come on, time for questions later," she said, taking Hermione's hand and dragging her towards the Hospital Wing door.

Hermione's mind was in shock. The Marauders didn't belong to a small year; they belonged to a _large_ one. _But how was there such a large difference_? The reason why came to her suddenly as they walked out into the corridor. The students in Lily's year were the ones who fought in the first war, and had _died_. Hermione had heard the stories, just like everyone else in the future had. The reason her own year was so small was because the previous generation hadn't had the chance to have families of their own.

Wiping the sudden wetness away from her eyes, Hermione gripped onto the hand of a woman she already knew to be dead and followed her to be reintroduced to a place she had already called home for five years.

* * *

**A/N:** I HAVEN'T ABANDONED YOU. Yes, I'm still here, plodding away at my keyboard. But with two long-ass stories and exams and coursework and paperwork for working in the US this summer, it's hellish. For this chapter (and basically all of the future ones) I had particular fun deciding who would be in which year and belong to what house. I so do not have a colour coded mass file of all my plans...

I hope you like where I'm headed! Remember to review! (even if it is just to moan at me to write more)

_**Holly - xo**_


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